Cephaloscyllium sufflans (Balloon shark)

(Regan, 1921)

Life > Eukaryotes > Opisthokonta > Metazoa (animals) > Bilateria > Deuterostomia > Chordata > Craniata > Vertebrata (vertebrates)  > Gnathostomata (jawed vertebrates) >.Chondrichthyes > Elasmobranchii > Galeomorphii > Carcharhiniformes > Scyliorhinidae

Cephaloscyllium sufflans (Balloon shark) [Illustration by Ann Hecht ©]

Identification

A large, stout catshark with a broad, rounded snout, no labial furrows, and 2nd dorsal fin much smaller than 1st. Colour pale grey to brown above, with indistinct darker saddle-marks variably present, underside white.

Size

To 1.1 m TL.

Range

East coast off Natal and Mozambique. Endemic.

Habitat

Shelf and upper slope from 40 to 600 m, on sand and mud bottom.

Biology

Common off Natal. Lays one egg-case per oviduct. Feeds on bottom prey including crustaceans, cephalopods, bony fish and other small sharks and rays.

Human Impact

None.

Text by Leonard J.V. Compagno, David A. Ebert and Malcolm J. Smale